Editorial: Life cut short by gunshot

Newport News must ramp up efforts for youth crime and violence prevention

November 19, 2012

Lamonee Johnson-Chisolm might have been looking forward to a few days off school, a big Thanksgiving dinner and hanging out with friends. Perhaps he had plans to watch the Steelers-Ravens game Sunday evening.

Instead, his name has been added to the list of tragic homicides in Newport News — 19 so far this year.

The boy was found shot in the back Sunday afternoon at the corner of 31st Street and Orcutt Avenue; he died at the hospital. A 15-year-old friend from Hampton survived a gunshot wound to the arm.

As of this writing, details are sketchy as to the cause and circumstances of the shootings. Neighbors report hearing shouting and gunshots in the area. While we can hope for quick answers — and swift justice, if warranted — in one sense the explanation doesn't matter. These kinds of shootings are outrageous regardless of circumstances.

The mere fact that a young teen was shot in the daytime on or near a well-exposed street corner raises disturbing questions. We are reminded of the case of James Wesley Dix, 57, shot in July while waiting for a bus at 25th Street and Parish Avenue. A 17-year-old was arrested and charged with his murder — a murder committed during a robbery of a wallet and a cell phone.

Why are so many young men and firearms finding their way into the same news stories? Is it really possible to improve citizens' safety on neighborhood streets Southeast Newport News?

The answers, of course, involve multiple factors. Poverty, access to weapons, absentee fathers and gang influence can combine for a dangerous formula, especially for youth who are easily caught up in a family and neighborhood cycle of violence. Family shootings such as Sunday night's case of a mother charged with shooting her son can be a part of that cycle.

Solutions, therefore, must be comprehensive and results-oriented. Law enforcement agencies, courts, probation departments, schools, sports organizations, neighborhood watch groups, churches and social service organizations can all play a role in providing the sort of environment that encourages teens to stay away from drugs, violence and crime.

Congressman Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, has been a champion of prevention and intervention as a means of reducing crime and incarceration. He is working to build support for the Youth PROMISE Act (Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education), a bipartisan effort targeting youth violence. The idea is to devote resources toward prevention as a solution for the ever-increasing societal burden imposed by prosecution and incarceration.

On his website, Rep. Scott describes the success of the Richmond Gang Reduction and Intervention Program, funded through a grant from the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Thanks to a collaboration involving the City of Richmond, federal, state and local partners, in just two years major crimes in the targeted community were down 43 percent. Homicides fell from 19 to two.

Similarly, the community policing efforts spearheaded by the Newport News Police and the office of the Commonwealth's Attorney is an effort that could help reduce crime in the city's most crime-ridden neighborhoods. We look forward to reports on the results of that program, which is mobilizing citizens to partner with police in reporting criminal activity.

When 13-year-olds are shot and killed, it's not just a neighborhood problem; it's a citywide problem. It's not acceptable for homicides and shootings to be shrugged off with a "that's just Newport News for you" attitude.

A community's crime rate as well as its perceived tolerance for crime can have a profoundly negative effect on its ability attract and retain residents and pursue economic development opportunities. And given the proximity of localities on the Peninsula, crime in one community has a ripple effect on the quality of life in others. If we want to create a better quality of life for all Peninsula-area citizens, we have to start with what's happening on a single street corner.